Dale Earnhardt Jr. has gone out of his way, whenever talking about his retirement from full-time NASCAR Cup Series racing, to say that his departure won't leave a void in the sport, that NASCAR has plenty of young drivers to excite fans.

The No. 3 is No. 1 again at Daytona, on a day, in a race and at a place forever linked with the great Dale Earnhardt.

Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night driving the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet that Earnhardt piloted for most of his career. Earnhardt was behind the wheel of No. 3 when he won his only Daytona 500 in 1998, and when he was killed in an accident on the final lap of the race three years later.

From start to finish, Kyle Busch's win in Charlotte was one to gush about

Exceptional. Special. Dominant. These are the colorful words that so easily flowed out of Martin Truex Jr. and Denny Hamlin as they each explained the superior performance by Kyle Busch as he drove away with the Coca-Cola 600 at Charlotte Motor Speedway on Sunday night.

The second- and third-place finishers of NASCAR's longest race had glowing things to say about the driver of the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota, whose rear bumper they had chased for 377 (of the 400 total) laps